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That was an excellent episode, that gave this arc's killer (Rikako Oryo) a lot of added depth and background characterization that I honestly wasn't expecting. Rikako Oryo is a very well-developed antagonist.

Another strength of this episode is the believable weaknesses of the world of Psycho-Pass. In yet another way, it takes a current flaw/trajectory of the modern world and shows how with advanced technology it could create something monstrous.

In real life, pain-killers have become much more prominent, especially in the United States. People getting addicted to pain-killing medication has become increasingly common. And while pain-killing medication kills the pain, it can also kill the person if it's taken too far (too much morphine can be lethal). I think that we're seeing something of a logical extension to this with what happened to Oryo's father.

One other strength of this episode was the artwork and animation, which I found very visually pleasing here. Psycho-Pass has a nice color palette. Too many dystopian/cyberpunk shows try to always make things literally dark, which is fitting for some scenes, but can create a boring, visual monotony if overused, imo. I'm glad to see that Psycho-Pass avoids that weakness.

Beyond that, I agree with many of the observations made by other viewers on this thread.

There is a definite meta quality to Rikako's father, who does indeed feel like a philosophical stand-in for Gen himself.

And yeah, the Akane/shirtless Kougami scene did give me the distinct impression that she was totally checking him out. I think she was genuinely impressed, and probably aroused a bit, by that perfectly sculpted upper body of his.

My take on Akane here is that she's actually a very non-bashful and non-shy person. Which is why she never blushed or showed much emotion even while she was sizing up Kougami. But I do think it took her a moment to become fully cognizant of just what she was doing, and then she became a bit flustered, insisting on Kougami putting on a shirt. While there is some moe here, it's a subtler kind with thicker and more realistic sexual tension, and it's something I really appreciated here.

Now, while there was a lot to like here, my one critique is similar to Kanon's. It does make our protagonists look a bit less competent in that they don't seem to be making any headway whatsoever in their police investigation. I'm also amazed that they haven't yet sent an undercover "transfer student" into this school to investigate it - That strikes me as the most obvious way to proceed with investigations here, and given Akane is very young herself, there's little doubt she could pull off such an undercover role with minimal holographic work.

But beyond that, the overall lack of response to these student deaths is downright shocking to me. To put it simply, why isn't this school temporarily being shut down (if you're not going to do an undercover police investigation, then one would think the next most logical thing to do would be to shut down the school in the hopes of protecting the remaining students from the serial killer)? The school doesn't appear to be particularly large in numbers, so this string of deaths should be highly troubling to this school and its administrators.

Finally, if the school isn't being investigated and if it isn't being temporarily shut down, one would expect panicky parents to pull their kids out of it so that their daughter won't be the next horribly disfigured murder victim. Yet there's no clear sign of such a thing happening.

While I think that Gen is an excellent writer in general, I find that this may be his main weakness - He sometimes fails to account for how people would most believably respond to certain situations, creating some circumstances that are hard to swallow. There were a couple instances like this for me in Madoka Magica, though that was an otherwise very tight piece of work.

In any event, it does seem like the plot is bending over backwards to make things easy for Oryo. In fairness, this is hardly any worse than what we see with The Joker in DC Comics - There, too, the plot bends over backwards in ways that are increasingly hard to swallow (a guy like Joker shouldn't live long, and that's even with accepting Batman's super-strict no killing policy, but that's perhaps a discussion best left for comic boards).

So since this is a common pitfall in writing color psychopaths in fiction, I'm not going to weigh this much again Gen. Just a little.

9/10 for Episode 7. A very engaging watch, and I look forward to more.

Yes this is probably the most unimportant aspect of the entire episode but I am too tired to comment about anything else.

edit: Okay one thing

Quote:

Originally Posted by Triple R

The school doesn't appear to be particularly large in numbers, so this string of deaths should be highly troubling to this school and its administrators.

They actually answered this in the last episode. The school is probably aware that something bad is going on, but as this school is supposed to be a stress free environment acknowledging something bad is going on would ruin that.

Of course the whole notion of it is silly because the girls are starting to notice, but I am sure the school hoped that it really was nothing and it would have just been brushed under the rug. I am sure the very last thing they wanted was to close to school (although I am also sure that will ultimately happen).

Either way this situation is extremely bad for a school that sets itself up as a way to keep girls in a stress free environment to keep their Psycho Pass clean. But I think it is also meant to show the hypocrisy of the school. They don't care about the girls, but the school's reputation.

They actually answered this in the last episode. The school is probably aware that something bad is going on, but as this school is supposed to be a stress free environment acknowledging something bad is going on would ruin that.

That's a good point, and it's why I could see the school staying open until Death No. 3. But, if I'm counting right, Death No. 3 occurred half-way through this episode. The pattern is just too obvious now - You'd have to think that your student body is totally brain-dead to hold out hope of them not realizing it.

But then I suppose things might be more different in the world of Psycho-Pass than what I first expected. In the real modern world, this string of murders would be the leading story on CNN (or at least the Japanese equivalent thereof). The media hoopla alone would force the school's hand. But I suppose that it's possible the media in this world is way different than our own. Perhaps "sensationalistic news" was all but outlawed due to its effect on people's psychological health...

Quote:

Either way this situation is extremely bad for a school that sets itself up as a way to keep girls in a stress free environment to keep their Psycho Pass clean. But I think it is also meant to show the hypocrisy of the school. They don't care about the girls, but the school's reputation.

Good points.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

I don't see it.

It's very faint blush lines. Even in a still picture, it's barely noticeable. I'm amazed somebody picked up on it at all.

Still, it's more subtle than what we usually get, and I like that.

Quote:

Embarrassed anime characters pretty much always do.

Nice to have an anime that's a bit more realistic then, I say.

People keep pointing to Akane in an attempt to make it seem that the "no moe" thing with Psycho-Pass was a lie. But really, Akane's moe is way, way more subtle than what you'd see with most female lead protagonists in anime. I think that Psycho-Pass' producers were serious and sincere about the "no moe" thing. It's just that short of having a total sausage-fest for your cast, you're not going to be able to avoid moe entirely. Even as is, Psycho-Pass' cast is male-dominated.

In the real modern world, this string of murders would be the leading story on CNN (or at least the Japanese equivalent thereof). The media hoopla alone would force the school's hand.

In ep6, they talked about how a media ban was imposed during the Specimen Murder case 3 years ago to keep the stress levels from exploding. It won't be surprising if there's a media blackout on the more grotesque details of any murder case. In any case, those students were only "missing" until this episode. Considering how the school prides itself on maintaining a "safe environment" for its students, I wouldn't be surprised if they managed to keep confirmation of the deaths from reaching the students yet.

wow, yuri psycho killer is fast. Girls falling left and right.
Didn't recognize the 2nd girl statue, didn't look like the pony-tail girl, but turns out she already had another one in the works already.

Too bad for that friend that wanted to find out what happened to pony-tail girl, looks like she's gone for good too. lol.

The other girl that was rather unresponsive to her friend missing seemed to have a small case of that condition mentioned in this episode. How due to the lack of feeling actual stress, they stop responding to things that should be a stimulant or sending danger signals to them and not recognizing it.

Now, while there was a lot to like here, my one critique is similar to Kanon's. It does make our protagonists look a bit less competent in that they don't seem to be making any headway whatsoever in their police investigation. I'm also amazed that they haven't yet sent an undercover "transfer student" into this school to investigate it - That strikes me as the most obvious way to proceed with investigations here, and given Akane is very young herself, there's little doubt she could pull off such an undercover role with minimal holographic work.

I'm not sure at this stage they'd send in undercover agents, but it REALLY seems like they'd go and interview all the girls who knew the murder victim in the school. From there it'd be...rather trivial to find out who'd she'd been spending the most time with.

Though as has been said before. By the mid point of this episode, the disappearance count of the students at this school was already at 3. Even if the school trys to hush it up, the families are gonna file missing person reports. And three students disappearing from the same school would be something that might seem rather big to the police...unless of course they're purely focused on known instances of psychological disturbances, and pay no attention to missing persons reports.

I'm not sure at this stage they'd send in undercover agents, but it REALLY seems like they'd go and interview all the girls who knew the murder victim in the school. From there it'd be...rather trivial to find out who'd she'd been spending the most time with.

Though as has been said before. By the mid point of this episode, the disappearance count of the students at this school was already at 3. Even if the school trys to hush it up, the families are gonna file missing person reports. And three students disappearing from the same school would be something that might seem rather big to the police...unless of course they're purely focused on known instances of psychological disturbances, and pay no attention to missing persons reports.

Well, the police not "moving in on" this school is not a huge deal yet, but this really needs to happen next episode, imo.

This police force is not without its weaknesses, but they've been shown to be generally competent and, more importantly, fast.

I'm hoping that next episode will show a confrontation between Oryo and some of the protagonists. I don't particularly care if Oryo gets "Dominated" or manages to escape, but I do think it's time for this arc to have (or at least near) its climax.

I guess this does show another problem with the whole system. Stress and stress management become so important. There is always a level of stress for everyone since for some every day you are getting scanned and your life could go into the pit if your psycho-pass isn't good.

The kind of monsters that can be created....Though to be fair a lot of blame placed right on the mastermind here. Someone who is enjoying setting these timebombs off.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Well, the police not "moving in on" this school is not a huge deal yet, but this really needs to happen next episode, imo.

This police force is not without its weaknesses, but they've been shown to be generally competent and, more importantly, fast.

I'm hoping that next episode will show a confrontation between Oryo and some of the protagonists. I don't particularly care if Oryo gets "Dominated" or manages to escape, but I do think it's time for this arc to have (or at least near) its climax.

Yeah, I have to think next episode things are going to come to a head. They've set it up with a hostage anyways, though always a chance she's even dead before something can be done about Oryo. Either way that psycho girl needs to go down and fast.

The other girl that was rather unresponsive to her friend missing seemed to have a small case of that condition mentioned in this episode. How due to the lack of feeling actual stress, they stop responding to things that should be a stimulant or sending danger signals to them and not recognizing it.

She was just being smart, she specifically told the dumb ass not to go off investigate by her self and keep a low profile.

I was surprised she didn't even blush or anything. She's like an alien or something. lol

Alien? Nah. She just acts more like a normal human rather than an anime character. Seeing her check out Kogami's abs was very funny.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roger Rambo

I'm not sure at this stage they'd send in undercover agents, but it REALLY seems like they'd go and interview all the girls who knew the murder victim in the school. From there it'd be...rather trivial to find out who'd she'd been spending the most time with.

Indeed, you'd think they would have at least interviewed the girls' classmates (that's pretty standard procedure), but that doesn't seem to the case. Even better, they could have submitted the people close to her to a CC exam (that might have scared off the killer though, so it might not be the best course of action). I'd like to know what they did between the first and second murders, because as of now it seems like they just sat on their asses waiting for leads to fall on their lap.

Anyway, with the kind of equipment they have at their disposal and the fact Oryo chooses victims close to her rather than random complete strangers, solving this case shouldn't be too hard now that they have found another murder victim from the same school. I expect the case to be resolved next week.

She was just being smart, she specifically told the dumb ass not to go off investigate by her self and keep a low profile.

While I feel sorry for these victims, I have to really shake my head at the latest one. You know that your classmates/friends are dropping like flies, so there's a decent chance that the killer is a fellow classmate herself.

If I was one of those girls after Disappearance/Death No. 2, there's no way I'd meet privately with another classmate unless she was like my best friend in the entire school.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kanon

Indeed, you'd think they would have at least interviewed the girls' classmates (that's pretty standard procedure), but that doesn't seem to the case. Even better, they could have submitted the people close to her to a CC exam (that might have scared off the killer though, so it might not be the best course of action). I'd like to know what they did between the first and second murders, because as of now it seems like they just sat on their asses waiting for leads to fall on their lap.

The problem I see here is that we're talking about people who leap into action over a broken toilet somewhere.

They're willing to bust into an apartment over that, but not bust into a school over dead and brutally mutilated girls?

They're willing to bust into an apartment over that, but not bust into a school over dead and brutally mutilated girls?

Maybe they know what to do with a broken toilet, but aren't well trained in how to handle true madmen, beyond keeping a steady hand on the dominator.

In all fairness, Rikako is working fast. Probably too fast for her own good at this point. I don't imagine that Shogo expects (or ever planned) to keep her around for much longer. Perhaps she doesn't care either, as long as she completes enough of her work before being caught.

For a surveillance society that drives the disturbed deep underground, they don't seem to have much trouble finding one another, do they?

Rikako's father's life choices interest me. We see the horror of what he became linked to the fevered quest for mental stability in the new society, but what he was before seems to paint a more intriguing picture of the man. Artistically, he created grotesque images and disturbing material using young girls as subjects, but their purpose was cathartic in nature.

(Come to think of it, don't we know someone with a similar creative bent?)

Regardless, from Shogo's speech it sounds as though the father's desire to bring people peace through tragedy was completely earnest, since he lost interest in doing so once medicine and technology could do a better job of it. The fact that he used such extreme imagery, and then later retreated into the peace of sedation (and later the grave) makes me wonder if his own soul was a troubled one. Clearly he didn't mean harm the way Rikako does, but medicating away a conflicted mind is not a signature of the well-adjusted.

I am not remotely surprised that this world has bastardized the old WW2 propaganda slogan: "Keep calm, and... take more drugs to make yourself even calmer."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dengar

Actually, it seems to me that nothing fazes her. I mean, she does have a strong opinion about stuff, and she can be surprised and has morals, but her mental state doesn't appear to change at all.

There's a word for this. It's "psychopath".

The thought had crossed my mind. Specifically I wondered how some of these people escape the screens for as long as they do, and then I remembered that the truly mad don't often show any signs of mental stress. Depending on what the metrics of crime coefficient are, that could have something to do with it. That made me think of Akane's friends enviously remarking on how her psycho-pass never wavers. Obviously she's not a danger in the same way that Shogo is, but I wonder if there's something just a little bit "wrong" with her. And if there is, can it even really be considered "wrong" if she leads a completely normal life anyway?

Moreover, what does it say about Sybil that it flags that kind of personality as the ideal enforcer of the psycho-pass system?

Our heroine is a psychopath? Well, if Gen confirms that, the uproar would be huge. That was an interesting angle of looking at things, to say the least. The scary thought is, doesnt it mean that sociopaths and psychopaths would find it easiest to evade the Psycho Pass system?

Actually, it seems to me that nothing fazes her. I mean, she does have a strong opinion about stuff, and she can be surprised and has morals, but her mental state doesn't appear to change at all.

There's a word for this. It's "psychopath".

This. Considering her hue never darkens, it seems she's a psychopath. If my theory proves true, then the story will get even more shocking than before because of many interesting things that circulate in this dark world where perfection is rare.

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